Since cancer is just runaway cell division, I’d imagine so, but you only ever hear about it in people and lab rats. So do plants ever get cancer? Is it usually fatal?
Thanks!
Regardless of what the answer is, this is such a goddamn good question I’m going to subscribe right now!
Well, it’s not exactly cancer, but according to this site:
" A soil bacterium that causes lumpy tumors on plants may be able to ‘jump kingdoms’ and insert its tumor-causing DNA into human cells, new research findings suggest.
The bacterium, called Agrobacterium tumefaciens, contains a small piece of DNA that can insert itself into the DNA of a host cell and initiate a tumor."
But cancer, as in malignant tumors? I’ve never heard of it, but maybe one of our dedicated cadre of plant biologists knows of a case.
Cecil offersthis.
Done.
I´m not an expert on the field, but plants and trees can have some sort of cancers; that is, abnormal cell growth; in fact is quite common in many trees. However since there´s no way for “cancerous” cells to migrate to other areas of the tree (opposed to animal`s cancer where cells can be carried by the blood stream for example) vegetal cancers don´t spread throughout the organism. Since the damage is local, and trees are not so sensitive to physical damage as animals I don´t think that vegetal “cancer” (I know it has a specific name, but I can´t remember) would be fatal.
In addition to the crown gall caused by Agrobacterium tumefaciens, there’s also fungus induced witches broom. Insects can also cause galling and brooming.
Looking at differentiaton from the other end, it’s possible to grow up tumorous looking masses of undifferentiated plant cells, called callus tissue, in the lab. As with human stem cells, the trick with these is to figure out how to turn the callus into something useful, such as a bean plant, or an orchid.
Plants get cancer all the time. It’s reasonably common for plants to throw out entire shoots that are genetically distinct from the parent organism. Indeed many of our most popular garden cultivars were produced by vegetative propagation of such shoots that had desirable characteristics. And what is the free growth of a genetically distinct line of cells on a parent organism if not a cancer?
There is a way for tumours to spread throughout a plant, and they do so occasionally. The phloem vessels of plants can translocate whole cells, although it is more difficult than it is in humans.
Cancer is typically defined as an uncontrolled, unregulated growth. I don’t think offshoots qualify. Shoots are controlled, deliberate growths that serve an important reproductive function.
It is also possible to have cancer with regulated growth, and tumours with no growth.
Regulated, yes; but not orderly growth, like a new leaf bearing shoot. If I were to suddenly sprout a third arm out of my chest, I would not consider it a tumor.
Ever hear of a teratoma?
Sure, but I fail to see what teratomas have to do with orderly growth. The fact that they can contain tissue identified with various organs or structures hardly qualifies them as organized growth.
Look, leaving aside discussions about whether an organized but genetically distinct growth is a cancer, plants can also have cells with genetic damage that causes them to grow and mulitply in non-organized and non- functional ways, which I think everyone would agree is cancer.
Obviously the forms that a tumor will take will be different in plants, and spreading to other parts of the plant is far more difficult, but I think it’s fair to call it a plant cancer. I’m no expert, but I’m guessing in vertebrates it’s easier for a tumor to get nourishment, so that may be another reason for it to be more of a threat to us animals.
However, probably the most common cause of weird tumor-like growth in plants is not cancer, but a gall caused by insects or bacteria. Most of these galls are caused by the parasite hijacking the plant’s chemical signalling system, so I wouldn’t really call them cancers (the cells in the ‘tumor’ are genetically identical to the rest of the plant, just responding to strange signal).